Previews

E3 2009: God of War 3 Hands-on

Spiffy:

It's a next-gen God of War with all the fixings that made you love the original.

Iffy:

I didn't find anything that bothered me, but I doubt people who didn't like the older games will like this one.

What is It?

When you've got a formula that works as well as God of War does, it means that you can create a game with only subtle changes and release it to acclaim. God of War III looks a helluva lot like its predecessors -- ridiculously gory, filled with crazy monsters, lots of absurd weapon combos, and set in a mythological Greek setting -- but the updated visuals and new story are enough to satiate fans of the franchise. Once again following the story of Kratos, God of War III picks up right where the second one ended, and pits you and the Titans of Greek lore against the gods of Olympus.

What's New for E3?

God of War III was announced quite awhile ago, but the demo, first shown at the Sony Press Conference, and which I later played myself, was the first time anyone's seen the game running in real time. The demo jumped right into a scene where Perses, the Titan of Destruction, was besieging the city of Olympia, with Kratos helping him take down the god Helios.

After a short run down a street in Olympia, I pulled out the Blades of Athena and started lashing into the crowd, killing civilians and enemies alike. These familiar weapons felt pretty much the same, but the demo also offered a new option, the Cestus, so I equipped them after a short time and continued into the fray. They are essentially gigantic metal gloves, and thus made me slightly more encumbered as far as dodging went. But they also allowed me to charge through enemies, tossing them aside before I punched them with battering ram-like force.

New weapons are a staple of the franchise, as is the over-the-top gore. From blood spatter that would cover Kratos head to toe to brutal execution moves, this is easily the most gratuitous God of War yet. Like the previous games, larger enemies often give you a chance to kill them through a series of quick button-pressing events, and the demo showed three separate instances of this.

In one part Kratos ripped the eyeball out of a cyclops, dangling the optical nerves before throwing it into the distance; another had Kratos disemboweling an enemy, intestines dropping onto the ground. But the death sequence that shocked the most was easily the beheading of Helios, which Kratos does with his bare hands, rending neck from shoulders with a sickening tearing sound.

God of War III makes combat the main focus, but it breaks up the action with unique interstitial moments to keep it fresh. In the demo I got to spend time with Kratos' pegasus wings, using them to fly through the mountains of Olympia, weaving past obstructions like the Millenium Falcon navigating the Death Star's inner core. It was a nice break from the combat, and just like the older games, was presented in a fashion that really captured the epic scale of Greek mythology.

Anthony says: God of War III is, as far as I can tell from the E3 demo, a true sequel in every way it should be. All the elements that people expect from the franchise are there, just now with upgraded visuals and a new story to back it up. But hell, that's enough for me.